Laurel schedules hearing on possible school closing
Laurel Highlands School Board will hold a public hearing next month to consider closing one of the district’s five elementary schools. During its monthly business meeting Wednesday, the board voted 7-1 to schedule the hearing for Thursday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at the junior high school.
Angelo Giachetti cast the lone no vote. Director Julia Ciarrocchi was absent.
“I’m not voting to close a school,” Giachetti said afterward. “Just because they think this is going to save money, I don’t think the kids should lose a school because of our budget.”
Board President Edward S. George read the motion, which stated, “This action does not indicate we are closing a school. It simply is a procedural issue that must be followed if it is an option.”
The board said nothing about the move Wednesday but discussed it the night before at a work session. Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba said the issue of closing an elementary school came up at a recent strategic plan meeting as a cost-saving measure at a time when the district has an especially tight budget.
He did not name a school but gave several options for redistributing the students from five to four elementary schools.
The district could take the students from the closed school and place them in the remaining schools or redistrict all the remaining elementary schools. The district also could designate two of the four elementary schools for kindergarten through second grade and the other two for third through fifth grades. With a conversion of the junior high to a middle school, the sixth grades no longer will be housed at the elementary schools next year.
Sheba had said the district could realize savings immediately in building operations and later in services and renovations.
In other business, the school board failed to hire long-term substitutes for three vacancies and instead agreed the administration will call in day-to-day substitutes. One of the positions would have gone to a school board member’s son.
The motion was for Palmer Sabatine Jr. to take over a fifth-grade position during a sabbatical leave, Heather Welsh to cover a first-grade position during a family medical leave and Alana Bomer to fill in as a Title 1 substitute.
Director Palmer Sabatine abstained from voting. Directors Judy Browell, Shirley Kefover and Giachetti passed on voting, and the motion failed with only four yes votes.
Browell said she wanted to give someone other than Sabatine’s son a chance at the position, although she added she was not saying anything is wrong with Palmer Sabatine Jr.
Director Tom Vernon made a second motion for the administrators to call day-to-day substitutes for the openings, and that motion passed with five yes votes. Browell and Kefover again passed on voting, and Giachetti voted no.
The board hired Toni Smitley as secretary for ACCESS funds and set her salary at $11 an hour for 20 hours a week, according to a flexible schedule.
The board also agreed to continue an agreement with California University of Pennsylvania to provide the district with athletic trainer services, at a cost of $9,000 a year.
Sheba said the district would supplement the Cal U agreement as needed with athletic trainers from East Suburban Center and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The night before, the school board discussed using the supplemental athletic trainers, because a player from the district’s girls’ basketball team was hurt at a recent game when no athletic trainer was present.
Kefover voted no to the athletic trainer services, asking if the money is in the budget, and she made a pitch on behalf of a request made at Tuesday’s work session by Hutchinson Elementary School principal Carmen Galderisi to hire classroom aides for the school.
The school board laid off the 12 regular classroom aides throughout the district before the start of the current school year while trimming expenses from the 2002-2003 general budget.
Kefover said after the meeting that she supports Galderisi in his request to the school board and said the students need more attention and help in kindergarten for two classes of 26 and 27 students and in third grade for two classes of 27 students each.
“I’m going to try again. I’m going to keep trying,” she said.
Galderisi estimated the cost at $3,500 each for two aides.
Sheba said the money is in the budget for the athletic trainer, and Vernon said the budget has no money to hire back classroom aides.
“You need 12 aides if you bring one back,” Vernon said.
Also, the board named a number of coaches: John Yonker, William Kooser and Kerry Whitman for assistant varsity track; Sam Capranica, assistant softball; Michael Barry, head ninth-grade softball; Ronald Popovich, assistant varsity baseball; John Warrick, head ninth-grade baseball; Tricia Cuppett, head seventh- and eighth-grade track (boys and girls); Mary Yonker and David Yacubovich, assistant seventh- and eighth-grade track; and Martin Turosak, head seventh- and eighth-grade girls volleyball.
They also approved Paul Livingston, Gerald Pegg, Joseph Jupina and Scott Brain as volunteer assistant track coaches for the high school program.
Further, Sheba asked that parents bear with school officials as they grapple with a tough winter and continue to monitor the weather.
He said they cannot know what is happening in every area of the district and call delays and cancellations based to their “best information.” He said parents make the final decision on sending their children to school according to the weather conditions in their area.
He asked parents to call the district’s main phone number at 724-437-2821 and select “school delays and cancellations” among the menu options.
George read an invitation from the agenda to parents and community members who would like to serve as volunteers in the schools.
“There are numerous ways your talents and energy can be used to help the students in our school district,” he read.
Anyone who is interested may contact any building principal or the central office for details.